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Saturday, 28 May 2011

Despite the distinctive style, this ethnic disc necklace will compliment all kinds of outfits and occasions--be it with a bikini on a beach in St Tropez, jeans and a tee at a barbecue or worn with an evening dress!

The inspiration is Accessorize’s ‘Embossed Disc Collar Necklace’:

£14, Accessorize

My version cost me very little since it was all stuff I had to hand. The coins I used were given to me by a friend (along with the ones I used in my Gothic Comedy Scarf). The thick chain was an old belt and the other chains were bought fairly cheaply too (these are project leftovers)

Everything else was pilfered from the remains of my parents’ jewellery-making supplies!

Read on for a how-to.

Time needed: 1-2 hours

You’ll need:

Chain (three widths/types)

Beads (I used 15)

Spacer beads (if appropriate)

Metal disks/coins (two with a hole at top and bottom)

2 connectors (preferably 3-hole)

Jump rings

Clasp

Side cutters

Round-nose pliers

Flat-nose pliers

1. Since I only had 4-hole connectors, I cut the centre hole from one side of the connectors. You might need to do the same if you have the same issue as me!

2. Slide your beads onto eye pins, between spacer beads if necessary. I used spacers because the holes in the spiral beads were so big they slipped over the eye pins! Bend the tops of the eye pins over into loops and cut off the excess

3. Cut a 5.5 inch (approx) length of your thickest chain and a 7 inch (approx) length of the thinner chain. Fix the beads evenly between the two lengths of chain. Make the spaces on the thinner, bottom chain a little bigger than the top chain so that the necklace curves a little.

4. Attach the coins/disks to the thinner chain

5. Use jump rings to fix the main section of the necklace to the connectors. On the single-loop end, attach the coins/disks with the two holes. I ended up making an extra hole in the bottom of two of my coins/disks because I didn’t have anything more appropriate!

6. Cut two equal lengths of your third chain (I used 5 inches each side) and fix them to the top of the coins with jump rings. Add on a clasp and you’re done!

The beads I used were partly what I had to hand (the skulls) and partly what I bought from ebay. The ebayed beads were sold as ‘Tibetan silver beads’ and were a steal at £3.19 (including postage) for 90 beads!

2. Take the shortest two pieces of tiger tail, hold them together and slide a crimp on the end. Slide on one of the split rings and loop the ends of the tiger tail back through the crimp. Close the crimp with flat nose pliers and repeat for the other four pieces of tiger tail.

3. You’re ready to start adding beads--this is the really time consuming part! Start with the shortest length of tiger tail. Leaving a gap of a 4 inches, add a crimp to the strand. Add a spacer bead (if necessary), one of your beads, another spacer bead, and finally another crimp. You’re effectively making a bead sandwich!

4. Leave an inch or two gap, add the next bead using the same process as before, until you have only a 4.5-5 inches at the end of the strand.

Repeat until you’ve put beads on all six strands of your necklace, changing the size of the gaps on each strand for some variation.

5. Open a jump ring by twisting it (not pulling the sides apart) and add the clasp.

6. Fix the clasp to one end of the necklace and add the second jump ring to the other end. I decided to use an extender chain on this, so I can alternate the length of the necklace. The clasp and jump rings in this picture were from a broken necklace.

I love the trashy, handmade look; the bag is quite floppy despite the sturdiness of the tapes so is a fun accessory to a slouchy, 80’s inspired ensemble!

Because I wanted a way of closing my bag, I changed the design slightly compared to the one in the tutorial. I also added a long strap, which I attached with big safety pins.

This bag makes use of the cassette casing, the cases and the tape inside.

Reel earrings

These were a little bit fiddly to make--mostly because of the rhinestones! I spray painted the reels silver and then glued flat-backed rhinestones around the edge.

Reel and chain necklace

Again, I spray-painted the reels on this one. I attached them to a plain chain and added short pieces of chain for effect.

Reel and beads cross choker

This time I joined some reels together into a cross shape, using thin ribbon. I added a jump ring to the top of the cross and put it onto a piece of bent wire to form the necklace. I added metallic beads and tape guides (the small plastic wheels) to finish off the piece.

Obviously these are only a few ways of reusing cassette tapes! A quick Google search will throw up tonnes of ideas and inspiration. How about a cassette tape lamp, bracelet, or wallet?

There are plenty of tutorials online--your only limit is your imagination!

Wednesday, 4 May 2011

Recently I bought a few fantastic retro craft books from a local charity shop. At 50p each they were an absolute bargain, especially considering the content!

The Complete Book of Handicrafts is absolutely brilliant. Printed in the 70’s, it covers a plethora of crafts including crochet, rug-making, smocking, leatherwork, picture framing and much more!

I’ve already found a heap of potential new projects. These mouse pincushions are adorable and definitely on my ‘to make’ list.

The Batsford Book of Sewing is another product of the 1970’s. This covers all nature of dressmaking procedures so as a self-taught dressmaker, I find it incredibly useful!

Shortcuts for Busy Dressmakers is similar to The Batsford Book of Sewing, but like the name suggests, it explains the quick way of doing things! Of course this is fantastic for any dressmaker lacking in time (or patience!)

This final book perhaps pushes the topic of this post from ‘retro craft books’ to ‘vintage craft books’!

Encyclopedia of Needlework was gifted to me a few weeks ago by my Nanny. (She always gives me cool stuff!)

It details a huge number of needlework methods and includes some beautiful colour plates. I was hesitant to read this book since I was afraid it might fall apart, but to my delight it has been digitised--find the book in its entirety at http://encyclopediaofneedlework.com/

Sunday, 1 May 2011

Nearly all magazines come with a handful of inserts that usually go straight in the recycling bin. But recently amongst the oft-unwanted junk was something interesting: a pamphlet for Joe Browns.

The brand in question has a large collection of to-die-for clothes and accessories, all of which are stylish, gorgeous, and practical with it!

One thing that caught my eye was the ‘Funky Buddha Scarf’. At £19.95 it isn’t particularly overpriced, but I’m one of those people that would rather save the money and spend a couple of hours making something for less!

As you can see, there are several differences between my version and the original!

Basically, I made this using things I had in my creative stash, rather than shelling out on fabrics, beads and whatnot.

I’m a bit of a goth at heart, so used some black cobweb lace left over from an old project. Instead of chunky beads I used some large jump rings, and the comedy mask charm has been floating around in my bead box for about a decade!

Since I’m all about sharing (and it’s so easy to make this), here’s a tutorial!

1. Hem your fabric on all sides if you wish (I didn’t because I could get away without doing it!) Put a bail on your charm if it doesn’t already have one, and thread onto the centre of the fabric.

2. A couple of inches from the charm, fix three of the jump rings around the fabric. It helps to twist the fabric here to keep it tightly together. Close the jump rings with pliers. These will stop your charm from sliding off the scarf.
Repeat on the other side of the charm.

3. Sew the coins to one end of the scarf, evenly spaced. I used 9 coins on each side.

4. Tea break!

5. Sew coins to the other end of the scarf.

6. Enjoy your new, cheaply-produced scarf!!!

Variations:

As with the Joe Browns scarf, try out large beads instead of split rings...